Pacific Division

Los Angeles Clippers Power Rankings - 2012-13

Power Ranking
WEEKRECORDRANKCOMMENT
Week 2454-264Maybe it took 'em longer to get to 50 wins than it should have -- and maybe the Clips have just one 50-win season compared to the Lakers' 27 since they began play as the Buffalo Braves in 1970-71 -- but Chris Paul & Co. have finished with the sort of flourish makes you un-write them off.
Week 2351-268You know the rules here: Any chance to mention the Buffalo Braves must be seized upon. So here goes: Sunday's deliciously damaging defeat of the Lakers gave the Clips their first season sweep of their mighty Staples Center co-tenants since Dr. Jack's Braves went 4-0 against 'em in '74-75.
Week 2249-257The West's No. 3 seed and a first-round meeting with Golden State or Houston, instead of whoever winds up in the No. 5 slot, obviously would be nice. Yet what the Clips need more than anything, because it's a tad late for roster upgrades, is a healthy Chauncey Billups in order to be at their playoff best.
Week 2148-225This season's original streakers are a mediocre 23-16 since their 17 wins in a row that put such a nice bow on 2012. The Clips, furthermore, aren't just trailing the Nuggets in the standings, slipping to second in the overall dunk standings -- believe it or not -- with 477 slams to Denver's 561.
Week 2046-216As much as I'd love to talk about the forthcoming division title that'll end a wait of more than 40 years when you add in the Clips' eight seasons in my beloved Buffalo ... it's hard to talk about anything else after yet another top-five West team (Memphis) just came in and won on the Clips' floor.
Week 1945-205No matter what happens to the Clips from here, no one's catching them in the NBA Commercial Rankings. Chris (and Cliff) Paul and Blake Griffin (via all those Kia spots) have set the bar too high. The Jamal Crawford-to-Blake alley-oop and DeAndre Jordan's response weren't bad, either.
Week 1843-194No sense gushing about the gaudy .704 winning percentage that the Clips toted into Sunday's big home date with OKC after they fell to 0-3 for the season against the Thunder ... and not even two weeks removed from getting blasted at Staples by the Spurs. They needed a trade, didn't they?
Week 1740-185Something tells me that the Clips, facing the prospect of having to beat the Spurs and OKC without home-court advantage to get to the NBA Finals, won't mind if we dig into our trusty Braves reservoir and re-state that CP3 is the franchise's first All-Star MVP since my man Randy Smith in 1978.
Week 1639-174The temptation to go all-in before Thursday's trade deadline by dealing Eric Bledsoe is obviously there ... but so is the urge to stand pat when the Clips boast the league's third-best average point differential and are finally at full strength health-wise. (D.J. Foster, ClipperBlog)
Week 1536-175The Clips have slipped to seventh in offensive efficiency and sixth in defensive efficiency after those l-o-n-g nine games without CP3. They were on the short list of teams in the top five of both categories, alongside San Antonio, before all the injuries. So let's see how long it takes 'em to return.
Week 1434-156It was all going so well in Clipperland. Remember when they reeled off 24 wins in a span of 27 outings? Now it's all road games, trade rumors and fretting about the knee bruise that has prevented CP3 from playing in nine of the Clips' past 11 games. Or halting their 2-6 skid.
Week 1333-134Another four-game skid dropped 'em out of the top two, but I wouldn't expect a 17-game win streak in response this time. Also wouldn't expect the Clips to care about anything beyond getting CP3 right. He's the latest to illustrate that banging knees tends to be a huge, scary deal these days.
Week 1232-92Painful as it is for me to admit, this franchise that spent nine seasons as my beloved Buffalo Braves has never posted a 50-win season, something only far younger franchises in Toronto (18 seasons) and Charlotte (nine) can match. At the midpoint of this season? The Clips are on a 64-win pace.
Week 1128-92No way could we keep the Clips in the top spot after the Orlando debacle dropped 'em to 3-3 since the 17-game win streak. The consolation: L.A.'s best team is a sterling 19-5 against Western Conference teams and leads the league with a 15-6 mark against teams at .500 or better.
Week 1027-81The Clips bounced back from their first crash since late November about as emphatically as you can with their win over the Lakers and a rout of Golden State. So that's five wins already by 25 points or more ... and a 63-win pace for a franchise still waiting for its first 50-win season.
Week 925-61Downgrade 'em if you feel you have to focus on the fact that only four of their 17 straight wins came against .500-or-better teams. I refuse. The Clips' eye-popping average point margin during the streak (15.2 ppg) and the sheer magnitude of winning that many games in a row precludes me.
Week 821-61The Clippers are only the second team since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976-77 to take a 13-game win streak into a Christmas Day game, with Boston having done so twice (14-gamer in 2010-11 and a 19-gamer in 2008-09) in the KG Era. They're also No. 1 in average point margin at +9.6.
Week 717-62How hot and deep is the best team in Los Angeles? Chris Paul hasn't reached the 20-point plateau in any of the Clippers' eight games in December. The Clips, with the suffocating Jamal Crawford/Eric Bledsoe combo coming off the bench in support of CP3, have won all eight of those games.
Week 614-64Chauncey Billups came back six games ago. He's only been able to play in three of the six. Minnesota, Utah and Dallas rank as the toughest opposition in that cushy stretch, but there's simply a different vibe in the air when he's around. L.A. has won those six by an average of 16.8 ppg.
Week 510-65PT is always a concern with the league's deepest team. Jamal Crawford's production has indeed cooled. And Blake Griffin hasn't been getting much air time lately beyond those Kia commercials. But with Chauncey Billups back, order seems to have been restored to Clipperland. We'll see.
Week 48-55That early loss to Golden State that I keep harping on looks increasingly forgivable, but I'm not about to argue with Chris Paul. If he says back-to-back stumbles in Brooklyn and Atlanta were "terrible," after the Clips won a big roadie in San Antonio and played OKC close, then they're terrible.
Week 37-23Jamal Crawford is the NBA's biggest All-Star ballot snubee. DeAndre Jordan and Eric Bledsoe have undeniably stepped it up. Even Blake Griffin is shooting a passable .667 on FT's hiked from last season's .521. And the Clips start the week at No. 4 overall in offensive efficiency and No. 2 in DE.
Week 25-24Was counting on the Clips to fill that gaping hole at No. 4 last Monday but could not overlook the home stumble to Golden State. Yet they've atoned for a subsequent home collapse to Cleveland with a 3-0 week and a club-record-tying six straight 100-point games out of the gate.
Week 12-15Instead of reveling in a rare Staples Center smackdown of the Lakers and the swiftness with which Jamal Crawford has announced his Sixth Man Award intentions, L.A.'s challengers for the city title are smarting from the 114 points they just let Golden State ring up on their floor.
Preseason0-06NBA's deepest team? Too deep for their own good? Does everyone know I bring up the following -- last season's .606 winning percentage eclipsed Buffalo's .598 mark in '74-75 for the franchise record -- only because I'm always looking to sneak in a Braves mention?
Training Camp40-265Last season of bliss before CP3 leaves Blake and Clipperland behind? Or the start of something truly special that makes L.A. feel like Manchester with two true powerhouse teams in the same neighborhood? Like it or not, Staples Center is the NBA's two-team epicenter for juicy storylines. For now.

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